Gents: At the risk of opening Pandora's box, I request recommendations for a "proper" scope to mount on a rebuilt Jeffery M1895 Farquharson chambered in .450/400-3" and built to look as if it was built by one of the better British makers around 1900. The barrel will have an integral 1/4-rib and claw mounts will be used.

My preference for a scope is a low powered variable with a straight, 1" tube or a low magnification, 1" straight tube scope. As the rifle will be expensive, I have no objection to buying a quality scope, but current S&B, Zeiss, and Swarovski low powered variables all have 30mm tubes, are illuminated, and weigh about 20 ounces. Leupold continues to offer the VX3 1.5-5x20mm but I don't like the big, exposed adjustment rings. So, that leaves the used or vintage scope market. A Lyman Alaskan would be somewhat period correct and have long eye relief, but claw mounts are not available for 7/8" scopes. I have seen some older S&B 1 1/4-4x20mm scopes but they're priced at $1700, which is a bit much for a used scope.

So, have at it. Purists among you will decry the notion of any scope at all, but realistically we all shoot better with a scope, and as Jeffery boasted the .450/400-3" is not strictly a short range rifle. Let me know what you would choose for the old Farquharson.

Cheers,
Roger

Well, Roger, the only scopes made in 1895 would have been long, skinny ones and you might even find reproductions made somewhere more recently.

A nice Unertl target scope might look the part, but they are not cheap, even now.

The first modernly short and fat scopes came from Karl Kahles around 1900. The first Zeiss scope in 1904 looked more like a periscope and could be worth $3000 as a collectible.

The English might, of course, have preferred a Ross - but I don't know when they began.

Assuming many such rifles did not have scopes before the 1920s, you could look for a German Zeiss, Hensoldt, Ajack etc or a 1930s Noske or Fecker.

Considering your calibre and the fact that your rifle is probably lighter than the average double, you need something that can really stand up to recoil. The pre-war Hensoldt Dialytan's reticle movement was truly formidable. The reticle cell (the only thing likely to move inside) ran in a vertical dovetail and may have been threadably connected with the turret screw. Beneath the cell there was also a spring, probably just to take up slop in the thread.

I can't be sure, but think many Zeiss scopes were made the same way, since they bought Hensoldt in 1928 and made all scopes at their Wetzlar factory until 2006. The little Zeiss Zielklein (Townsend Whelen's favorite) came with one or two turrets and the latter were offset, suggesting an Oldham coupling analogous with the one in the US M84 of 1946. Noske Type A scopes also look like that.

For more practicality you might look for a post-war European or American scope. Zeiss were probably the best until 1975 but I know that Nickel also ran the reticle cell in a dovetail, held by a stiff spring beneath. American makers like Redfield, Weaver and Lyman were all image-movement by about 1960. I'm not sure how the earlier American reticles were held against longitudinal recoil inertia but Bausch & Lomb, Leupold et al made scopes with no internal adjustments. Finding mounts might be the rub. The German Pecar scopes had less-secure-looking reticles but a great reputation for toughness right up to 2006.

Modern scopes mostly claim to be shockproof - but they would, wouldn't they? I would opt for either a Swarovski Z6 1-6x or a Leupold 2.5x if you can find one. The Swaro has helical springs and it seem the Leupold erector tube is light enough to not give much trouble.

Cheers!

I would use Smithson mounts, and a railmount Swarovski, Schmidt or Zeiss 30mm with a 42 mm objective. I think a 1.75-10 or something like that.

I can't see past my nose. I am damn sure not paying top dollar to build a Farqy and then putting a scope on it I can't sue.

I feel the Leupold scopes from late in the last century were about the last of the elegant scopes.
Personally I would be looking at the 2-7, but it doesn't strictly comply with your requirements as it has an objective bell, but I don't like straight scopes.